CAREER: A Holistic Study of Compact-Object Mergers across the Electromagnetic Spectrum

黑洞（BH）和中子星（NS）是我们宇宙中最密集的天体。研究人员将通过研究它们在太空中的碰撞来增进我们对BH和NS的理解。BH和NS的猛烈碰撞产生了可以用望远镜探测到的光爆发，以及现在可以用激光干涉仪引力波天文台（LIGO）等特殊仪器探测到的引力波（GW）。事实上，天文学家最近首次探测到GW和来自一颗名为GW 170817的中子星星合并的光。这次联合探测标志着一个新的研究时代的开始：多信使天体物理学时代。新的研究计划，如时空遗产调查（LSST），正在进一步增加宇宙中探测的距离和发现的速度。研究人员的项目利用了这一有保证的数据流，增加了对NS和BH合并的真正多波长（X射线到无线电）表征的独特视角。研究人员将与高中教师合作，开发关于紧凑物体合并的课程材料，并指导学生进行研究项目。最后，研究小组将与视障科学家合作，并与专业音乐家合作，将天文测量转化为声音，使每个人都能接触到多信使天体物理学，并让更广泛的公众获得全感官体验。多信使天体物理学领域还处于起步阶段。在第一次联合电磁（EM）-GW检测后，研究的重点是映射合并后的EM瞬态约束的属性。这是本次调查的首要目标。通过获取多波长的观测样本的热和非热发射，这项工作将映射的NS合并EM结果的多样性。在这样做的过程中，这项调查将导致研究的人口NS合并检测通过GW和光。 高能和高密度物理的新制度将在他们的研究计划中探索。 此外，研究者可以改进NS状态方程和宇宙加速率的约束。该项目推进了NSF宇宙大创意窗口的目标。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Black holes (BHs) and neutron stars (NSs) are the densest objects in our Universe. The investigator will advance our understanding of BHs and NSs by studying their collisions in space. The violent collisions of BHs and NSs produce bursts of light that can be detected with telescopes, as well as gravitational waves (GWs) that can now be detected with special instruments like the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). Indeed, astronomers have very recently detected for the first time GWs and light from a neutron star merger named GW170817. This joint detection marked the beginning a new era of investigation: the era of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics. New research programs, like the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), are further increasing the distances probed in the Universe and rate of discoveries. The investigator’s project capitalizes on this guaranteed stream of data, adding the unique perspective of a truly multi-wavelength (X-ray to radio) characterization of mergers of NSs and BHs. The investigator will work with high school teachers to develop curricular material on compact-object mergers, and to guide their students in research projects. Finally, the investigator’s group will work with visually impaired scientists and collaborate with professional musicians to translate astronomical measurements into sound to make multi-messenger astrophysics accessible to everybody and engage the wider public with an all-senses experience. The field of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics is in its infancy. After the first joint electromagnetic (EM)-GW detection, the research priority is to map the post-merger properties as constrained by the EM transients. This is the overarching goal of this investigation. By acquiring multi-wavelength observations that sample both the thermal and non-thermal emission, this effort will map the diversity of the EM outcomes from NS mergers. In doing so, this investigation will lead to the study of a population of NS mergers detected via GWs and light. New regimes of high energy and high-density physics will be explored in their research program. In addition, the investigator may improve constraints on the NS equation of state and on the rate of acceleration of the Universe. This project advances the goals of the NSF Windows on the Universe Big Idea.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.